Advice needed re: fitting door casing please

[Chapster]

Hi,

I’m in desperate need of advice please. Firstly, I’m an electrician by trade who has done a degree of building work in the past and limited woodwork, mostly working in maintenance and domestic and commercial electrical. I’m trying to fit casings out of necessity, not pleasure.

Background: my partner took out the biggest loan she could to try to renovate her house and raise the floors downstairs due to annual flooding. She chose the wrong “builders” and now has no money and a ruined house she is subsisting in with her 3 children. The entire upstairs has also been gutted and now is nothing but bare stud walls leaving her teenage children all sleeping in one “room”.

I am trying my best to make it better, concentrating on remaking the bedrooms so they can at least have their own space. We have discovered that friends and family aren’t as caring as you might think when you truly need help so there is only me trying to make things better and it’s killing me going there after work constantly trying to get a few hours of work in and a few hours sleep before my normal job begins again the next morning.

The current problem: I want to fit door casings and then plasterboard the bedrooms to give some basic but usable private space for everyone (downstairs is a bare concrete shell).

I’ve read websites and forums to learn how to fit casings. First problem I found was the 838mm (as per label on them) doors are actually 840mm wide (measured with 3 different tapes). Routed a bit extra from the header rebates to counter that. Then I fitted the jambs to the header on a large flat surface, squared, measured diagonals to confirm square. Then I ensured gaps between jambs correct at the bottom and strapped the bottom of the jambs. Braced the top corners. Then I thought I’d confirm the door fits nicely with the planned 2mm gap all around to allow for paint. Slotted the door into the casing rebate and found the gap at the top got larger as it went along and the middle of the jambs were tight against the door (discovered jambs are bowed by 2mm in the centre and door is also slightly wider around the middle).

So, I decided to put 2mm packers between the door top + sides and casing and brace it like that, to ensure door fits perfectly, whether door is square or not.

I cannot fit the casing into the stud door opening though, and it’s driving me to despair in my weary, tired state.

The studs are bowed and twisted, and haven’t been installed absolutely vertical. If I set the casing jambs vertical, one has the right gap at the top for plasterboard and skim, but at the bottom it would have the plasterboard in line with the casing with no space for skim. The other jamb is worse with the very bottom sticking out so far that the plasterboard would protrude beyond the casing edge. (And the exact opposite on the other side of the casing of course).

The stud horizontal timber the header screws into is twisted which means it needs different packers back and front and I can’t seem to get it right and it tries to pull the jambs out of the doorway. The jambs being bowed makes it hard to determine if they’re perfectly vertical. I was planning on under-packing the middle of the jambs so they’d be pushed towards the stud frame and straightened. If the jambs are vertical, the header isn’t perfectly horizontal because I’ve braced the casing to be correct around the door, and the door isn’t perfectly square.

I’m tired and stressed and don’t know what to do. With only a few hours each evening, I can’t do enough. And now I’m dealing with bowed and twisted C24 studs that aren’t vertical, casings with bowed jambs, out of square brand new doors. Is this the standard of wood to be expected? 838 doors measuring 840, bowed jambs, doors that aren’t square?

Rebuilding the stud walls isn’t viable as I’m struggling with the workload as it is. Stuck with the doors and casings too. And if either of us had the money, we’d be getting a joiner in without a thought. Or Nick Knowles and crew.

Sorry for the long post, I’m just sinking under an amount of work (including wiring the place) that is too much, but which needs to be done to give a family back some kind of dwelling.

 

[Notch7]

Im sorry to hear your troubles.
Door linings can be frustrating.

You probably want to do plasterboarding before doing linings?

2'9" doors, 838mm are quite big for internal doors.

Ideally you want 838mm + 5mm margin =843mm height is 1981mm + 2mm at top + 6mm at bottom (above floor finish) =1989mm

If you are fitting the doors too, your quickest overall method is to machine the hinges into doors and liner jambs. Use a bit of wood or mdf strip to mark out all the hinges. (Square a line across 2mm down from one end and line up top of door to that, on liner, set end of wood strip tight to top of liner).

So:
1 screw together your liner, make sure you have the right width 843mm or 844mm.

2. put liner into opening, wedge in place so it is about where you want it

3. Screw hinge jamb into place.

4. Screw door in place, shut door and see if you can get other jamb and head to be flush with door when in shut position, check liner gives you even overhang for plaster skim. If necessary, adjust hinge jamb.

5. Then wedge hinge jamb until dead straight and screw tight.

6. Adjust head and make nice even margin

7. With door in shut position, check door on handle side sits nice and flush with liner jamb, pull in/out to suit.
Screw in making sure liner stays straight.

Using door as template is the easiest way to get liners in, but you have to cut in hinges first.

If you dont want to do that, get a piece of mdf similar size to a door, or buy a really cheap flush door

Temporary screwing on some dummy door stops can help hold the dummy door in place.

Best of luck!

 

[nigelknows]

I can’t see anyone being happy with wonky walls and therefor doorways . RIP out and replace stud work.

 

[Chapster]

Notch7, sorry for not replying sooner. Thank you so much for your advice, it made fitting the liner so much easier.

After using the method you described, it seemed so obvious, but it certainly wasn’t beforehand, and you’ve relieved much stress.

Thanks again for taking the time to help. It really is deeply appreciated.

 

[ivixor]

You sound like you are doing heroes' work - please feel free to ask as many questions as you need here.

It sounds like you know where you've gone wrong - getting the walls straight is obviously key to getting the doors to fit properly. In your situation and assuming you can't face remaking the walls, just bodge it. Plaster, architrave and skirting (and plenty of decorators caulk) covers a multitude of sins. It'll be fine.

For future walls though:

1) Get straight timber!

2) I get a door linining like this one: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Sof...686+762mm-Doors-27-5-x-108mm-x-2-01m/p/200351 . That is 108 mm thick.

3) Use some standard studs: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Sawn-Kiln-Dried-C16-Timber---45-x-70-x-2400-mm/p/167112

4) They are 70mm thick. So 2x 12mm plasterboard either side will get you to 94mm, leaving a max of 7mm either side for plaster.

 

[Nige F]

Hi,

I’m in desperate need of advice please.
The studs are bowed and twisted, and haven’t been installed absolutely vertical. If I set the casing jambs vertical, one has the right gap at the top for plasterboard and skim, but at the bottom it would have the plasterboard in line with the casing with no space for skim. The other jamb is worse with the very bottom sticking out so far that the plasterboard would protrude beyond the casing edge. (And the exact opposite on the other side of the casing of course).



Sorry for the long post, I’m just sinking under an amount of work (including wiring the place) that is too much, but which needs to be done to give a family back some kind of dwelling.

One thing that might help with p/board and skim -- When I've had walls re skimmed the finish would be thicker than the lining - skim could be tapered in to original lining but that would mess up the architrave. So I get stripwood ( from Wickes) and glue/pin it to the edge of the lining leaving a gap for the skim to lay flush with the lining. You can fix it back from the opening edge of the lining so it sits under the architrave, packing it out. Hope this helps

 

[Notch7]

Notch7, sorry for not replying sooner. Thank you so much for your advice, it made fitting the liner so much easier.

After using the method you described, it seemed so obvious, but it certainly wasn’t beforehand, and you’ve relieved much stress.

Thanks again for taking the time to help. It really is deeply appreciated.

Im glad you sorted it.

fitting liners and doors can take a long time if done with the wrong method. Ive known plenty of builders that spend ages with a spirit level and square trying to fit external doors frames, when all they needed to do is to hang the door and set the frame to it.